Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-08-25
Stories Of Lion Tanners.
New York SUM-


PARIS, July 29.-Another lion tanner
has lust been devoured. The event oc-
eur ed in the Out-of-the-way town of
Bourges, and, strange enough, behind
closed doors, while the man was putting
his animals through their training. AS
most readers delight in stories of the
kind, l went down to Asniers near Paris,
where Bidel resides, and interviewed
the great lion king on the subject.
Bidel has fine house at Asnieres i'm
the Rue de la Comete, near the Avenue
d'Argenteuil. He Is now a rich man.
The entrance to his place is by a large
monumental gate, with stone pilasters
supporting sculptured lions heads OH
either side. There isa pretty, we'll trim
med garden, and beyond it the house, or
rather French country chateau, built
in fairly good taste after the manner of
what our modern French architects call
the style of Louis XIII.
The owner ofthis fine property receiv-
ed me very courteously, as most French
men know how. Noticed that the walls
of the room in which we conversed were
covered oil over with genuine Gobelins
tapestry. On peeping into the dining
room caught sight of the dressers and
sideboards, which were loaded with old
china and rare pottery. The tall, wood
carved chimney in the background had
been magnificently decorated by Rosa
Bonheur, the renowned French artist,
with representations of Nero and Sui
TAM Bidels pet lions.
Bidel is a stout, thick-set man, with q
dark. eye, jet-black hair, and n powerful
sturdy frame. In the Autumn of last
year he was mangled by Sultan. He has
now fairly recovered from the shock his
nerves sustained on that occasion, but
still retains lively sense of the danger
to which he was exposed; so much so, in
fact, that he has given up all idea of
again entering Sultan's cage, or, indeed,
that of any other of the wild beasts
which go to make up his really fine col
lection of animals.
II was born at R0uen in 1S40," said
the tanner, land am consequently forty
seven years of age. My mother kept a
strolling menagerie, and we travelled for
many years over France and Italy, after
which we came up to Paris. began the
training of animals In my youth, and
entered lions cage for the first time
when mere STRIPPING. So you see was
born and bred to the business, and have
had opportunity from infancy to study
the habits and tempers of all sorts of
wild beasts, a thing seldom afforded to
most of those who follow my profess
sion.n
"Is there any difficulty in finding men
who have not had those advantages to
perform with lions?
mo; some one or other turns up oc-
L. e. Ill 10 Il n,,k =.
easy for us to see from the style of the
performance whether man has been
bred to it or not"
"How long does it take before man
and beast are fit to appear in public?'
ut depends great deal on the man
and in measure on the animal he has
to work with. Now, there is Alexiano,
my pupil, who has Thoroughly daunted
that almost irreclaimably fierce lion,
Sultan, by whom I was nearly torn to
pieces last Fall. From the first hour he
entered the cage he got complete con-
troll over the brute, and accomplish ed
in few days what might have requir-
ed as many months in another. He is
one most dogged, unfiinching tanners /
have ever met, all Drawn and sinew,
and as stout hearted as an elephant. He
was born at Orleans, and is by seven
years or so my junior"
"Would you, if occasion required, en-
ter cage of strange lions and perform
with them?
Certainly; I have done so on more
than one OCCASION
"Have you ever felt nervous?"
"Why, yes. more especially on ac-
count of the fieas!'
"But you must have experienced
some Apprehension, surely, when you
were mauled by Sultan?"
HAD given way to the slightest
touch of fear on that occasion / should
not be here to talk the matter over.
When man begins to feel qualmish it
is high time he should give up lion tam
ing"
"Were you present when Lucas was
killed."
mo. Twas not in Paris at the time.
That was under the Empire. The acci-
dent occurred at the old Hippodrome,
when it stood near the Triumphal Arch
and before it was burned down. Lucas,
although a Spaniard, was somewhat of
a tippler. He had the rashness to enter
the lions cage when excited by drink,
and was torn to pieces by all animal
with which he was performing. A lad
of eighteen ventured into the enclosure
and brought out his manged remains.
He was decorated by. the Emperor, but
went out of his mind soon afterward
from the mental strain of the moment"
"Do most tanners of wild beasts die a
violent death?o
"No. 1t is usually the result of i'm
prudence. A smart trainer never gives
a chance away. He may, of course, get
scratched or bitten, but he is rarely eat
en-" -.
"Have you known besides yourself
any renowned trainers who have made
fortune and retired from the busi-
ness?''
"Why, yes, scores. There is Van AM
burgh and Charles, commonly reported
as victim of his art, who died peace
fully of consumption in his bed; and
Henri Martin, who had won renown
long before the French historian of that
name had penned line, and of whom
all modern masters in the art of tanning
wild beasts speak with respect and ven
Grafton, quietly departed this lifea few
years ago at the advanced age of ninety
in his little house at Overchie, village
near Rotterdam, where he had lived in
retirement for forty years, among his
collections of butterflies and his books
on botany"
"Tlien you think the death of this
man at Bouges was brought about by
carelessness? Did you know him?"
L T.. Sl-, s..s~